They Always Run
by Diabolicael
Summary: Fletcher pursues possibly the most important runner of his life. It's not John Anderton, you slashers. Oneshot. Just something I thought of at 4:58 in the morning, when I should have been asleep.


**people who've read Dark Storm will recognize the name. The fact of the matter is naming is a difficult and annoying task, and really, why bother? lol**

**little ficlet inspired by a few lines by one freakishly blue eyed man. enjoy!**

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Her eyes skimmed passed the door. "Don't do it." He might as well have been reading her mind. She didn't look at him.

"Hey, don't do this," he said, coaxingly. "Dee." He waited for her to look at him. His blue eyes were sincere and concerned. "Don't run."

She gave him a rueful half smile. "You don't have to chase me."

His eyes and voice turned pleading, with a desperate smile and little laugh. "You don't have to run."

She let her eyes drift over him and around the room and back. "No. I could stay and let you put that thing on me. But we both know I won't do that. I can't."

"You know I'll catch you," he told her.

"I don't know any such thing," she said, a little sadly, as she moved towards the door.

"It doesn't have to be like this, Dee," he said, making it sound like a promise. But she knew all about promises.

"Doesn't it?" She bolted, knocking a chair over in her wake and shooting out the door. She could hear him coming behind her. If he caught her, it would be over. She understood it. He understood it. This was the only chance she had to get away. It was all she knew; to run. Dee swerved down a hallway and grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall as she went. The window at the end of the hall smashed easily. Down the fire escape to the ground below. She could see him above her, coming down fast. She hit the ground running, darting away down the alley, weaving between the human obstacles that walked the sidewalk.

"Stop!" he shouted. He was bigger than her, it was harder for him to slip between the bodies. "Stop her!"

Just like him to cheat, wasn't it? Hands started grasping at her, but she spun away into the street. Death on four wheels sped towards her, went passed as she dodged this way and that.

"No! Dee!" he yelled. She could hear the fear that constricted his throat. She wondered if he knew what it felt like to be afraid the way she was. If he could feel the fear that made her run. On the other side of the road, she did not have to worry about cars crushing her body, only more people crushing her escape. Tires squealed and drivers yelled as he made his way across the street after her. Part of her wanted him to get hit, but only a little.

Around the corner, down the sidewalk, into an alley, back out and down, over and up. She could no longer hear him, no longer feel his presence behind her, and knew that she had lost him. It had been easier than she would have thought, given all his big talk. But, that was the way of things. They talked big, but when it came to it, that's all it was: talk.

She slowed down, practically strolling down the street, now. Free as a bird. After a few blocks, she even stopped looking over her shoulder. She breathed a sigh. Relief, yes. She idly wondered how long he would search blindly before giving up. Perhaps he had already. What to do? She hummed a little tune as she walked, feeling the breeze on her face. She let her feet take her where they would, she had no place to be, after all. It wasn't until she stepped onto the bridge that crossed the little river that she realized she'd entered the park.

The trees were lovely, leaves in shades of gold, red, orange. Falling to earth like the snowflakes that would follow in only a month or two. She stood at the center of the bridge and gazed down into the water. It was rippling gently, but smooth enough she could see her reflection. She looked like a free woman. She smiled at herself. Another reflection joined hers.

Before she could react, he'd grabbed her wrist in that vise-like grip of his. He looked down at her as she stared at him in shock, blue eyes filled with triumph.

"How-"

He grinned over her surprise, obviously feeling every bit the victor he was. "I thought you'd come here," he told her. He reached into his pocket and tugged her close. He showed it to her, the thing she had be running from. It was awful and awing. She could swear his eyes were twinkling as he slipped it on, sealing her fate. "Say it," he commanded.

A tear slipped down her cheek. "Yes, Fletcher. I'll marry you."

He pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. She kissed back, clinging to him, feeling the cool metal of the ring around her finger. She could never run again. He'd taken away her escape and, she was surprised to find, given her something she'd never really had.

"I love you, Dee," he whispered against her lips. She felt truly free for the first time in her life as she whispered those words back to him, another tear falling away.

"No more running," he ordered, wrapping strong arms around her. She slipped her own arms about his waist, pressing her face into his neck.

She nodded. After all, she'd just realized that her whole life she'd thought she was running away from something, when really she'd been running toward it; this moment, this man. "No more running."

**R&R. Don't ask why, just do it.**


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